Customized graphics for video conversations

ABSTRACT

An online system customizes video conversations between users of the online system. During a video conversation, the online system presents a composite view to the participating users. The composite view may include visual representations of the users, a background graphic, or other types of graphics such as masks and props that the users can wear or interact with in the environment of the video conversation. The visual representations may be generated based on a live video feed of the users or include avatars of the users. The online system can determine the graphics based on information about the users. For instance, the online system determines a background graphic showing a location that the users have each visited. Upon viewing the background graphic, the users may be encouraged to interact with the background graphic or other graphics included in the composite view, which can promote an engaging video conversation experience.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/479,370, filed Apr. 5, 2017, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure generally relates to providing graphics for videoconversations and in particularly to customizing the graphics forparticular users of an online system.

Users of an online system may communicate in real-time using videoconversations. For example, two users each have a smartphone device thatincludes a camera, microphone, and speaker that enable the two users totalk to each other and see a video feed of each other. Existing systemsthat facilitate video conversations may not provide a particularlyengaging user experience that is customized based on the participatingusers. For example, the two users are friends participating in the videoconversation from their home or office. After catching up on eachother's day, the friends run out of topics to discuss with one another,which may result in awkward silences. Thus, the friends may stop thevideo conversation or feel unsatisfied with the video conversation andsystem overall. It is desirable for an online system to provide engagingvideo conversations in order to encourage users to continue usingservices of the online system.

SUMMARY

An online system customizes video conversations between users of theonline system. Users participate in a video conversation using clientdevices, and during the video conversation, the online system canpresent composite views to the participating users via displays of theclient devices. A composite view may include visual representations ofthe users, a background graphic, or other types of graphics such asmasks and props that the users can wear or interact with in theenvironment of the video conversation. The visual representations may begenerated based on a live video feed of the users captured by the clientdevices and/or include avatars of the users (e.g., a “cartoonized”visual representation). Because many different types of graphicalcontent may be used in conjunction with the live video feed, as usedherein a “background graphic” represents graphical content that appearsbehind other content in the live video feed such as a user or a user'savatar in the composite view, while “graphics” represent other graphicalcontent that may appear in the foreground and obscure other features ofthe video feed, for example as either imposed on top of a backgroundgraphic or in front of a user or a user's avatar.

The online system can determine additional graphics to include in thecomposite views based on information about the users. For instance,based on actions performed by the users on the online system or a thirdparty system, the online system determines a background graphic showinga geographical location that the users have each visited. Upon viewingthe background graphic, the users may be encouraged to interact with thebackground graphic or other graphics included in the composite view,which can promote an engaging video conversation experience. Further,third party systems may provide graphics to the online system thatinclude sponsored content for presentation to users during videoconversations.

In one embodiment, a method identifies users of the online systemparticipating in a video conversation, where each user has a clientdevice presenting visual representations of one or more of the users. Inresponse to receiving a selection from one of the users for a backgroundgraphic, and for each of the users, the online system provides thebackground graphic to be included in a composite view presented by thecorresponding client device of the user. The composite view overlays thevisual representations of the one or more users on the backgroundgraphic. The online system determines a first set of graphics for afirst user of the users. Each of the graphics is associated with one ormore designated portions of the composite view presented by the clientdevice of the first user. The online system provides one or moregraphics of the first set to be included in the composite view presentedby the client device of the first user. In response to receiving aninteraction performed by the first user with a graphic of the one ormore graphics, the online system modifies the composite view presentedby the client device of the first user. For instance, the online systemoverlays the graphic on the one or more designated portions of thecomposite view corresponding to the graphic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system environment for customizing graphics forvideo conversations according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the system architecture of anonline system according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of a display of users of the online systemparticipating in a video conversation according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of a display of the video conversation shown inFIG. 3A including a background graphic according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3C is a diagram of a display of the video conversation shown inFIG. 3B including additional graphics according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3D is a diagram of a display of the video conversation shown inFIG. 3B showing the users interacting with additional graphics accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for customizing graphicsfor video conversations according to one embodiment.

The figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes ofillustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structuresand methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing fromthe principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. System Overview

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system environment for customizing graphics forvideo conversations according to one embodiment. The system environmentincludes an online system 100, one or more client devices such as clientdevice 110A and 110B, and one or more third party systems 120, connectedto each other via a network 130. The client devices 110A and 110B may becollectively referred to herein as client devices 110, or individuallyas a client device 110. In other embodiments, different and/oradditional entities can be included in the system environment.

The online system 100 allows users of the online system 100 tocommunicate or otherwise interact with each other and access content.The online system 100 receives information about the users, for example,user profile information and information about actions performed byusers on the online system 100 or a third party system 120. The onlinesystem 100 enables users to participate in video conversations with eachother. In addition to displaying visual representations of theparticipating users, the online system 100 can also display backgroundgraphics and/or other types of graphics during the video conversations.The graphics may be based on content items provided by information fromthird party systems 120.

In some embodiments, the online system 100 is a social networkingsystem. Users join the online system 100 and add connections to otherusers to which they desire to be connected (e.g., friends, co-workers,and family members). The online system 100 may also enable users toexplicitly express interest in objects and/or concepts, such as brands,products, celebrities, hobbies, sports teams, music, and the like. Theseinterests may be used in a myriad of ways, including targeting graphicsand personalizing the user experience (e.g., video conversations) on theonline system 100 by showing relevant graphics based on sharedinterests, affinities, or sentiments.

In some embodiments, the online system 100 maintains and stores a socialgraph to represent concepts and actions in the online system 100. Thesocial graph includes nodes connected by a set of edges. Nodes representusers and other objects of the online system 100, such as web pagesembodying concepts and entities, and edges connect the nodes. Each edgerepresents a particular interaction or connection between two nodes,such as a user expressing an interest in a content item shared byanother user. As another example, an edge may represent a connection(e.g., a friendship type relationship) established between two users. Assuch, the social graph includes data representative of the socialsignals of the online system 100. In one embodiment, the online system100 generates the edges of the social graph based on the observedactions of its users.

The client device 110 is a computing device capable of receiving userinput as well as transmitting and/or receiving data via the network 130.In one embodiment, a client device 110 is a conventional computersystem, such as a desktop or laptop computer. Alternatively, a clientdevice 110 may be a device having computer functionality, such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smartphone,head-mounted display (HMD), virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality(AR) device, or another suitable device. A client device 110 isconfigured to communicate via the network 130. Client devices 110 mayinclude electronic displays, cameras, microphones, speakers, and/orother components that enable users to participate in video conversationsusing the client devices 110. These components may also be externaldevices communicatively coupled to client devices 110. For example, anexternal video camera (e.g., a webcam) may be coupled to a client device110 to capture a video feed, or an external display or projector may becoupled to a client device 110 to present video from received by theclient device 110.

In one embodiment, a client device 110 executes an application allowinga user of the client device 110 to interact with the online system 100or a third party system 120. For example, a client device 110 executes abrowser application to enable interaction between the client device 110and the online system 100 via the network 130. In another embodiment, aclient device 110 interacts with the online system 100 through anapplication programming interface (API) running on a native operatingsystem of the client device 110, such as IOS® or ANDROID™.

In one embodiment, a third party system 120 is an application providercommunicating information describing applications for execution by aclient device 110 or communicating data to client devices 110 for use byan application executing on the client device 110. In other embodiments,a third party system 120 provides content, graphics, or otherinformation for presentation via a client device 110. Each third partysystem 120 is associated with a server outside of the domain of theonline system 100. In one embodiment, the third party system 120communicates content (e.g., graphics or HTML code) from a server of thethird party system 120 to a server of the online system 100. The contentmay be created by the entity that owns the third party system 120. Suchan entity may be a company or other type of organization offering aproduct (e.g., a tangible object or an intangible service), or messagethat the company wishes to promote.

The network 130 includes any combination of local area and/or wide areanetworks, using both wired and/or wireless communication systems. In oneembodiment, the network 130 uses standard communications technologiesand/or protocols. For example, the network 130 includes communicationlinks using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Examples ofnetworking protocols used for communicating via the network 130 includemultiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol(HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol(FTP). Data exchanged over the network 130 may be represented using anysuitable format, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensiblemarkup language (XML). In some embodiments, all or some of thecommunication links of the network 130 may be encrypted using anysuitable technique or techniques.

II. Example System Architecture

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the system architecture of theonline system 100 according to one embodiment. The online system 100includes a user profile store 200, action logger 210, action log 220,web server 230, third party tracker 235, conversation engine 240,graphics engine 250, and graphics data store 260. In other embodiments,the online system 100 may include additional, fewer, or differentcomponents for various applications. Conventional components such asnetwork interfaces, security functions, load balancers, failoverservers, management and network operations consoles, and the like arenot shown so as to not obscure the details of the system architecture.

The user profile store 200 stores user profiles associated with eachuser of the online system 100. A user profile includes declarativeinformation about the user that was explicitly shared by the user andmay also include profile information inferred by the online system 100.In one embodiment, a user profile includes multiple data fields, eachdescribing one or more attributes of the corresponding user of theonline system 100. Examples of information stored in a user profileinclude biographic, demographic (e.g., age or gender), and other typesof descriptive information, such as work experience, educationalhistory, geographical location, hobbies or preferences, location and thelike.

A user profile may also store other information provided by a user, forexample, images or videos of a geographical location visited by theuser. In certain embodiments, an image or video of user(s) may be taggedwith identification information of users of the online system 100displayed in the image or video. A user profile in the user profilestore 200 may also maintain references to actions by the correspondinguser performed on the online system 100 or on a third party system 120.The user profile store 200 can further store data (e.g., a social graph)describing one or more relationships between different users and allowsusers to specify their relationships with other users.

The user profile store 200 can store user profiles associated withindividuals, as well as user profiles associated with entities such asbusinesses or organizations, e.g., that own a third party system 120.This allows an entity to establish a presence on the online system 100for connecting and exchanging content with other users of the onlinesystem 100. The entity may post information about itself, about itemsassociated with the entity, for example, products offered by the entity,or provide other information to users of the online system 100 using abrand page associated with the entity's user profile. Users of theonline system 100 may connect to the brand page to receive informationposted to the brand page or to receive information from the brand page.A user profile associated with the brand page may include informationabout the entity itself, providing users with background orinformational data about the entity.

The action logger 210 receives communications about user actionsinternal to and/or external to the online system 100, populating theaction log 220 with information about user actions. Examples of actionsinclude adding a connection to another user, participating in a videoconversation with another user, interacting with graphics during a videoconversation, checking-in to physical locations, sending a message toanother user, uploading an image, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, among others. In addition, a number of actions mayinvolve an object and one or more particular users, so these actions areassociated with those users as well and stored in the action log 220.

The action log 220 may be used by the online system 100 to track andrecord user actions on the online system 100, as well as actions onthird party systems 120 that communicate information to the onlinesystem 100. In some embodiments, the online system 100 uses data fromthe action log 220 to infer interests or preferences of a user. Thus,the online system 100 can augment user information stored in the userprofile store 200 and determine a more complete understanding of userpreferences. The action log 220 can record information about clientdevices 110 that a user uses to interact with the online system 100. Forexample, the action log 220 records whether the user used a laptopcomputer or smartphone client device (or an electronic display 140) tointeract with the online system 100. Further, the action log 220 mayinclude information about the types of client devices 110, e.g.,smartphone running an IOS® or ANDROID™ operating system.

The web server 230 links the online system 100 via the network 130 tothe client devices 110. The web server 230 can serve images, video, andweb pages, as well as other web-related content, such as JAVA®, FLASH®,XML and so forth. The web server 230 may receive and route messagesbetween the online system 100, a client device 110, for example, instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text messages, short messageservice (SMS) messages, or messages sent using any other suitablemessaging technique. A user may send a request to the web server 230 toupload information (e.g., images or videos) that are stored in the userprofile store 200. Additionally, the web server 230 may provideapplication programming interface (API) functionality to send datadirectly to native client device operating systems, such as IOS®,ANDROID™, WEBOS® or RIM®.

The third party tracker 235 receives information from third partysystems 120 and stores the received information in the user profilestore 200, action log 220, or graphics data store 260. The third partytracker 235 can periodically send a request for third party informationto a third party system 120. The third party system 120 provides thethird party information in response to receiving the request. Thirdparty systems 120 can also provide third party information proactivelyto the third party tracker 235 without requiring a request.

In one embodiment, the third party tracker 235 receives information fromthird party systems 120 using pixel tracking. The third party tracker235 provides a pixel to a third party system 120 to be included in auser interface associated with the third party system 120. The thirdparty system 120 provides third party information to the third partytracker 235 in response to a user of the online system 100 viewing thepixel of the user interface. For example, the pixel is included in auser interface displaying a website of the third party system 120. Whenthe client device 110 of the user displays the pixel of the website onthe display screen of the client device, the third party system 120provides third party information to the third party tracker 235indicating that the user viewed the website.

The conversation engine 240 enables users of the online system 100 tocommunicate with each other via video conversations using client devices110. In an example use case, a user initiates a video conversation andinvites one or more other users to join the video conversation. Theconversation engine 240 provides notifications to the invited users tojoin the video conversation. During the video conversation, theconversation engine 240 provides a real-time display (e.g., a videodisplay) for presentation on the client devices 110 of the usersparticipating in the video conversation. The display may include visualrepresentations of the participating users, as well as a backgroundgraphic and/or other types of graphics. The conversation engine 240 canalso provide real-time audio messages to the client devices 110 duringthe video conversation. In some embodiments, the conversation engine 240provides a digital environment, e.g., a VR or AR environment, for usersto communicate with one another.

The graphics engine 250 generates and provides composite views to beincluded in displays presented on users' client devices 110 for videoconversations. The composite view may include one or more visualrepresentations of the participating users, one or more backgroundgraphics, and/or other types of additional graphics. The graphics engine250 can analyze information stored in the user profile store 200 oraction log 220 to identify information useful for generating graphics.The graphics engine 250 may also receive graphics generated by a thirdparty system 120. The graphics engine 250 can store graphics in thegraphics data store 260 or retrieve graphics from the graphics datastore 260. In some embodiments, graphics may include sponsored content,e.g., associated with a third party system 120.

The graphics engine 250 may determine graphics to be included incomposite views based on information about the participating users fromthe online system 100. For example, the graphics engine 250 retrievesuser information from the user profile store 200 or action log 220describing actions performed by the users on the online system 100 or athird party system 120. Based on the user information, the graphicsengine 250 determines a common characteristic of the users, in someembodiments. For instance, the common characteristic indicates ageographical location visited by each of the users. The graphics engine250 can determine a background graphic that visually represents thegeographical location, e.g., the background graphic shows a beach inHawaii that a user visited for vacation with the user's family members.The graphics engine 250 determines that the user visited the beach, forexample, based on user information indicating that the user checked-inat tourist attraction at the beach, or information from the third partytracker 235 indicating that the user completed a reservation at a hotelor restaurant nearby the beach.

In some embodiments, graphics (and/or background graphics) areassociated with one or more targeting criteria, e.g., specified by athird party system 120 or the online system 100. The targeting criteriaspecify one or more characteristics of users eligible to be presentedwith the associated graphic. For example, targeting criteria are used toidentify users having user profile information, relevant edges of asocial graph, or actions satisfying at least one of the targetingcriteria. For example, targeting criteria identifies users that havetaken a particular action, such as visiting a geographical location,“liked” a brand page of a third party system 120, acquired or reviewed aproduct or service, installed an application, or performed any othersuitable action. Including actions in targeting criteria allows thegraphics engine 250 to further refine users eligible to be presentedwith certain graphics.

In some embodiments, the graphics engine 250 determines characteristicsthat differ between the users participating in a video conversation andcustomizes graphics in the corresponding composite views presented oneach user's client device 110. For example, the graphics engine 250determines that a first user has an affinity for fruit smoothies basedon user information from the action log 220 indicating that the firstuser “liked” a brand page of a third party system 120 that providesfruit smoothies. In addition, the graphics engine 250 determines that asecond user has an affinity for coffee based on user information fromthe user profile store 200 and/or action log 220 indicating that theuser frequently uploads images of different types of coffee (e.g.,Espressos or Cappuccinos) and that the user is connected to other usersof the online system 100 who also upload images of coffee. Thus, basedon the difference in the first and second users' affinities forbeverages, the graphics engine 250 determines to include a graphic of afruit smoothie in the composite view presented on the first user'sclient device 110, and to include a graphic of a coffee in the compositeview presented on the second user's client device 110. The graphic ofthe fruit smoothie may include a logo of the third party system 120 thatprovides fruit smoothies, e.g., to promote the third party system 120 orto increase the likelihood that the first user will interact with thegraphic. In this way, in one embodiment different graphics and/orbackground graphics may be selected for each user according to thatuser's interests and affinities.

In some embodiments, graphics including sponsored content havecorresponding graphics values. For instance, a graphic value of agraphic indicates an amount of compensation to be provided by a thirdparty system 120 (e.g., associated with the graphic) to the onlinesystem 100 if the online system 100 presents the graphic to a userduring a video conversation. The amount of compensation may be providedif any suitable condition is satisfied when the graphic is presented toa user, e.g., if the online system 100 provides the graphic forpresentation in a set of candidate graphics, if the online system 100presents the graphic in a designated portion of a composite view, if theonline system 100 receives an indication that a user performed aparticular interaction with the graphic, or interacted with the graphicfor a threshold duration of time. In some embodiments, the graphicsengine 250 determines an expected value to the online system 100 ofpresenting a graphic by multiplying the associated graphic value by aprobability of a user interacting with the graphic.

The graphics engine 250 can request graphic values from third partysystems 120 when there is an impression opportunity to include abackground graphic or another type of graphic in a display for a videoconversation between users of the online system 100. For example, thebackground graphic of a composite view presented during the videoconversation includes one or more designated portions to displaysponsored content. The composite view also includes a number of graphicsto display sponsored content. Third party systems 120 may want topromote a product or service to the users participating in the videoconversation. Thus, the third party systems 120 provide graphic valuesto the online system 100 for one or more of the opportunities. Thegraphics engine 250 can select a graphic value for a given impressionopportunity, for example, by determining the graphic value with thegreatest amount of compensation.

The graphics engine 250 requests a graphic (e.g., if not alreadyprovided) from the third party system 120 that provided the selectedgraphic value, and includes the requested graphic in the composite view.The graphics engine 250 may select graphic values from multiple thirdparty systems 120 for a given video conversation having more than oneimpression opportunity to include graphics. If the graphics engine 250does not receive a graphic value to fulfill each available impressionopportunity, or decides not to select any received graphic value, thegraphics engine 250 may select a graphic (e.g., a “default graphic”)from the graphics data store 260.

The graphics engine 250 can provide information describing impressionopportunities to include graphics in displays for video conversations tothird party systems 120, e.g., when requesting graphic values from thethird party systems 120. The information may describe user informationof the users participating in a given video conversation, the time ofday during which the given video conversation is occurring, orcharacteristics of a graphic (e.g., size, orientation, duration in timeto be presented, background graphic or a graphic in the foreground,etc.), or any other details that may be useful for third party systems120 to determine graphic values. The user information may indicate adetermined common characteristic of the participating users and/orcharacteristics that differ between the participating users.

III. Example Customized Graphics for Video Conversations

For sake of example, the description for FIG. 3A-D refers to an examplepair of users, Jason and Brendan, of the online system 100 participatingin a video conversation. Jason and Brendan use client device 110A andclient device 110B, respectively, to communicate with each other duringthe video conversation. The features described herein with reference toexamples with Jason and Brendan may also be included in otherembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of a display 300 of users of the online system 100participating in a video conversation according to one embodiment. Thedisplay 300 has a first sub-display 305 including a visualrepresentation of Jason and a second sub-display 310 including a visualrepresentation of Brendan. The graphics engine 250 generates the visualrepresentations based on a real-time video feed of the client devices110A and 110B, in some embodiments. For example, the client devices 110Aand 110B each have a camera that captures video feed of thecorresponding user. In some embodiments, the graphics engine 250 maymodify the video feed, e.g., by generating a “cartoonized” version ofthe users such as an avatar, or by applying other image processingtechniques such as color filters. In addition, the visualrepresentations may be a hybrid “cartoonized” version, e.g., the face ofthe user is based on the video feed, while the body of the user is“cartoonized.” The graphics engine 250 provides the display 300 forpresentation on Jason's client device 110A and Brendan's client device110B.

In some embodiments, the graphics engine 250 formats the display 300differently for each client device 110. For instance, the display 300shown in FIG. 3A includes the first sub-display 305 positioned above thesecond sub-display 310 and is presented on Brendan's client device 110B;however, another display presented on Jason's client device 110A (notshown in FIG. 3A) includes the second sub-display 310 positioned abovethe first sub-display 305. Further, in embodiments where the videoconversation includes additional participating users, the display 300may include a sub-display for each participating user, arranged in agrid pattern or any other suitable format. In some embodiments, thesub-display including the visual representation of the viewing user maybe smaller in size relative to the sub-displays including the visualrepresentations of the other participating users.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of the display 300 of the video conversation shownin FIG. 3A including a background graphic according to one embodiment.In an example use case, the graphics engine 250 determines that Jasonand Brendan both have an interest in basketball. For instance, thegraphics engine 250 receives user information from the action log 220indicating that Jason and Brendan both commented on content (e.g., newsarticles or user posts) of the online system 100 associated with a localbasketball team. In some embodiments, the graphics engine 250 includes amenu (e.g., including text, images, or video) of multiple options for abackground graphic in the display 300, e.g., including options for astadium of the local basketball team, an outdoors basketball court, or abasketball gym. The graphics engine 250 may include the menu in responseto receiving a request for a background graphic via one of the clientdevices 110. In response to receiving a selection of a backgroundgraphic from the menu, the graphics engine 250 includes the selectedbackground graphic in composite views presented by the client devices110.

In the example shown in FIG. 3B, graphics engine 250 includes theselected background graphic of the stadium of the local basketball teamin the composite view shown in the display 300. The composite viewoverlays the visual representation of Jason on the background graphic inthe first sub-display 305 and overlays the visual representation ofBrendan on the background graphic in the second sub-display 310. Sincethe background graphic visually represents the stadium, the compositeview may provide a digital environment (e.g., an AR or VR environment)in which Jason and Brendan perceive them being located together at thestadium. Though the background graphic is generally identical asincluded in the composite views presented in the client devices 110 ofeach user participating in a video conversation, the graphics engine 250may customize a portion of the background graphic.

For instance, the background graphic of the stadium includes ascoreboard 325 and a banner 330. Compared to the display presented toJason, the display 300 presented to Brendan may have a different graphicshown in designated portions of the background graphic corresponding tothe scoreboard 325 and/or the banner 330. For purposes of illustratingthat designated portions of the same background graphic may becustomized for different users, the scoreboard 325 shown in the firstsub-display 305 includes circles, while the scoreboard 325 shown in thesecond sub-display 310 includes triangles. In practice, for example, thescoreboard 325 shown in the first sub-display 305 includes statistics ofJason's favorite basketball player, while the scoreboard 325 shown inthe second sub-display 310 includes statistics of Brendan's favoritebasketball player. In some embodiments, the scoreboard 325 shown in bothsub-displays 305 and 310 are identical for a display presented by clientdevice 110A, but different than the scoreboard shown in sub-displayspresented by the client device 110B.

FIG. 3C is a diagram of the display 300 of the video conversation shownin FIG. 3B including additional graphics according to one embodiment. Inthe example shown in FIG. 3B, the first sub-display 305 includes agraphic of a headband 345 and a graphic of a jersey 350. The secondsub-display 310 includes a graphic of a cap 355 and a graphic of thejersey 350. The graphics engine 250 modifies the composite view tooverlay the additional graphics on the first sub-display 305 and thesecond sub-display 310. For purposes of illustration in FIG. 3C, each ofthe graphics is shown in a circular “bubble” overlaid on the backgroundgraphic. In other embodiments, the graphics engine 250 may include thegraphics in the composite view in any suitable representation. Inaddition or alternatively to including the graphics, the graphics engine250 may include a textual string representation of the graphics, e.g.,displaying the strings “headband,” “cap,” and “jersey” as a menu in thecomposite view.

The graphics engine 250 can determine the additional graphics based onthe background graphic. For instance, the headband 345, jersey 350, andcap 355 are basketball apparel that may be worn or found at a basketballstadium. Furthermore, the graphics for the headband 345, jersey 350, andcap 355 may be customized, e.g., include team colors or a logo of thelocal basketball team. Thus, the graphics engine 250 can generatedifferent graphics for other users located in a different city with abasketball team different than the basketball team nearby Jason andBrendan. As another example use case, the background graphic shows atheme park. The graphics engine 250 determines graphics of masks (e.g.,to be worn on the face or head) and props that are associated with atheme park environment. For instance, the graphics include masks ofvarious movie characters, theme park food and drinks, or souvenirs.

The graphics shown in the first sub-display 305 are different than thoseshown in the second sub-display 310, e.g., because the graphics engine250 determines one or more characteristics that differ between Jason andBrendan. For instance, the graphics engine 250 determines that Jasonpreviously viewed a webpage including product information for headbandsand that Brendan previously viewed a website including productinformation for caps, e.g., based on information from the third partytracker 235. Accordingly, the graphics engine 250 infers that Jason andBrendan have affinities for headbands and caps, respectively, and thusare likely to interact with objects related to headbands, caps, or othertypes of basketball apparel.

The graphics engine 250 updates the visual representation of users basedon the real-time video feed of the users, in some embodiments. Forinstance, if a user raises the user's hand in real life, the graphicsengine 250 detects this motion and updates the visual representation ofthe user to reflect the hand raise motion. Thus, users participating inthe video conversation can interact with graphics or background graphicsincluded in the composite view. For example, Jason selects the headband345 by moving his hand over the graphic of the headband 345, and Brendanselects the cap 355 by moving his hand over the graphic of the cap 355.

FIG. 3D is a diagram of the display 300 of the video conversation shownin FIG. 3B showing the users interacting with additional graphicsaccording to one embodiment. As an example use case, in response toJason interacting with the graphic of the headband 345, the graphicsengine 250 modifies the composite view to overlay the graphic of theheadband 345 on the visual representation of Jason shown in the firstsub-display 305. In addition, in response to Brendan interacting withthe graphic of the cap 355, the graphics engine 250 modifies thecomposite view to overlay the graphic of the cap 355 on the visualrepresentation of Brendan shown in the second sub-display 310.

The graphics engine 250 may associate certain graphics withpredetermined designated portions of visual representations of users (orof background graphics), in some embodiments. For example, headbands andcaps are normally worn on people's heads, so the graphics engine 250associates the graphics of the headband 345 and cap 355 with thedesignated portion of a head of a visual representation of a user in thevideo conversation. Thus, the graphics of the headband 345 and cap 355are overlaid on the head of the visual representations of Jason andBrendan, respectively. As Jason and Brendan move their heads in reallife, the video feed of their client devices 110 captures thesemovements, and the graphics engine 250 updates their visualrepresentations in the composite view; the graphics engine 250 can alsomaintain the positions of the graphics of the headband 345 and cap 355relative to the head of their visual representations.

In some embodiments, Jason and Brendan can interact with the graphics ofthe headband 345 and cap 355 overlaid on their heads in the compositeview. For example, they can use their hands to adjust the orientation ofthe headband 345 or cap 355, or take off the headband 345 or cap 355. Insome embodiments, a camera (or another sensor) of the client device 110tracks motion of the hands of a user, and the online system 100 uses thetracked motion to determine the user's interactions with graphics. Inother embodiments, the online system 100 can determine these userinteractions using video and/or image processing techniques to identifyand track motions from a video feed. Jason can Brendan may also swap theheadband 345 and cap 355 with each other in the environment of the videoconversation. In other embodiments, the graphics engine 250 overlaysgraphics of masks on designated portions of a face of a visualrepresentation of a user, or overlays graphics of other props, clothing,or types of objects on any suitable portion of the visual representationof the user (e.g., a basketball on the user's hand, or a jersey on theuser's upper body).

In other embodiments, the graphics engine 250 modifies the compositeview presented on the client devices 110 by overlaying graphics on thedesignated portions of a background graphic. For example, the compositeview includes graphics of several basketball players on the localbasketball team. In response to Jason or Brendan selecting one of thegraphics, the graphics engine 250 overlays statistics or other types ofinformation about the corresponding basketball player on the scoreboard325 of the background graphic. As another example, the graphics engine250 overlays information about food and drinks available at the stadium(e.g., associated with a third party system 120 of a restaurant or snackbooth) on the scoreboard 325 or banner 330 portions of the backgroundgraphic. The graphics engine 250 may also overlay graphics of the foodand drinks available on a graphic of a tray, e.g., carried by a virtualfood server at the stadium shown in the composite view.

IV. Example Process Flow

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process 400 for customizinggraphics for video conversations according to one embodiment. In someembodiments, the process 400 is performed by the online system 100—e.g.,modules of the online system 100 described with reference to FIG.2—within the system environment in FIG. 1. The process 400 may includedifferent or additional steps than those described in conjunction withFIG. 4 in some embodiments or perform steps in different orders than theorder described in conjunction with FIG. 4.

In one embodiment, the conversation engine 250 identifies 410 users ofthe online system 100 participating in a video conversation, where eachuser has a client device 110 presenting visual representations of one ormore of the users. In response to receiving a selection from one of theusers for a background graphic, and for each of the users, the graphicsengine 250 provides 420 the background graphic to be included in acomposite view presented by the corresponding client device 110 of theuser. The composite view overlays the visual representations of the oneor more users on the background graphic.

The graphics engine 250 determines 530 a first set of graphics for afirst user of the users. Each of the graphics is associated with one ormore designated portions of the composite view presented by the clientdevice 110 of the first user. The graphics engine 250 provides 540 oneor more graphics of the first set to be included in the composite viewpresented by the client device of the first user. In response toreceiving an interaction performed by the first user with a graphic ofthe one or more graphics, the graphics engine 250 modifies 550 thecomposite view presented by the client device 110 of the first user. Forinstance, the graphics engine 250 overlays the graphic on the one ormore designated portions of the composite view corresponding to thegraphic.

In some embodiments, the graphics engine 250 determines a second set ofgraphics for a second user of the users. The second set of graphics mayinclude at least a first graphic that is also included in the first setof graphics. The second set of graphics may also include at least asecond graphic different than the first graphic. The graphics engine 250may determine the sets of graphics by determining at least onecharacteristic that differs between the first user and the second userbased on user information, e.g., from the user profile store 200 oraction log 220.

V. Alternative Embodiments

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program product includinga computer-readable non-transitory medium containing computer programcode, which can be executed by a computer processor for performing anyor all of the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a product that isproduced by a computing process described herein. Such a product mayinclude information resulting from a computing process, where theinformation is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readablestorage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer programproduct or other data combination described herein.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying a plurality ofusers of an online system participating in a video conversation, eachuser having a client device presenting visual representations of one ormore users of the plurality of users; in response to receiving aselection from one of the plurality of users for a background graphicfor the video conversation, for each user of the plurality of users:providing the background graphic to be included in a composite viewpresented by the corresponding client device of the user, the compositeview overlaying the visual representations of the one or more users ofthe plurality of users on the background graphic; determining userinformation describing actions performed on the online system by a firstuser of the plurality of users and a second user of the plurality ofusers on social networking objects different from a video feedassociated with the video conversation; determining, based on the userinformation, at least one characteristic that differs between the firstuser and the second user; automatically determining, based on the atleast one characteristic, a first plurality of graphics for the firstuser and a second plurality of graphics, different from the firstplurality of graphics, for the second user; providing one or moregraphics of the first plurality of graphics to be included in thecomposite view presented by the client device of the first user; andproviding one or more graphics of the second plurality of graphics to beincluded in the composite view presented by the client device of thesecond user.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivinguser information describing actions performed by the plurality of userson the online system; and determining a common characteristic of theplurality of users based at least in part on the user information;wherein the received selection is from a set of candidate backgroundgraphics, and wherein at least one of the set of candidate backgroundgraphics is determined based on the common characteristic.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein determining the common characteristic of theplurality of users based at least in part on the user informationcomprises: determining a geographical location visited by each of theplurality of users, wherein the background graphic visually representsthe geographical location.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:in response to receiving an interaction performed by the first user witha graphic of the first plurality of graphics, modifying the compositeview presented by the client device of the first user by overlaying thegraphic on one or more designated portions of the composite viewcorresponding to the graphic.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinmodifying the composite view presented by the client device of the firstuser further comprises: modifying at least one of the visualrepresentations of the one or more users of the plurality of users basedon the graphic.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or moredesignated portions of the composite view are part of the backgroundgraphic, and wherein modifying the composite view responsive to theinteraction further comprises: modifying the background graphic byincluding the graphic in the background graphic.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein at least one of the first plurality of graphics includessponsored content of a third party system.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein automatically determining the first plurality of graphicscomprises determining that the first user interacted with one or moresocial networking objects associated with the third party system.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the background graphic is selected from a setof candidate background graphics based on targeting criteria of thecandidate background graphics and characteristics of one or more usersof the plurality of users.
 10. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: determining an impression opportunity for a designatedportion of the one or more designated portions of the composite view;receiving a plurality of graphic values from a plurality of third partysystems; selecting a graphic value of the plurality of graphic values,wherein the selected graphic value corresponds to a third party systemof the plurality of third party systems; and including a candidategraphic provided by the third party system in the one or more graphicsof the-first plurality of graphics.
 11. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions for generatinginformation for removing an unwanted application, the instructions whenexecuted by a processor cause the processor to perform steps including:identifying a plurality of users of an online system participating in avideo conversation, each user having a client device presenting visualrepresentations of one or more users of the plurality of users; inresponse to receiving a selection from one of the plurality of users fora background graphic for the video conversation, for each user of theplurality of users: providing the background graphic to be included in acomposite view presented by the corresponding client device of the user,the composite view overlaying the visual representations of the one ormore users of the plurality of users on the background graphic;determining user information describing actions performed on the onlinesystem by a first user of the plurality of users and a second user ofthe plurality of users on social networking objects different from avideo feed associated with the video conversation; determining, based onthe user information, at least one characteristic that differs betweenthe first user and the second user; providing one or more graphics ofthe first plurality of graphics to be included in the composite viewpresented by the client device of the first user; and providing one ormore graphics of the second plurality of graphics to be included in thecomposite view presented by the client device of the second user. 12.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, whereinthe instructions when executed further cause the processor to performsteps including: receiving user information describing actions performedby the plurality of users on the online system; and determining a commoncharacteristic of the plurality of users based at least in part on theuser information; wherein the received selection is from a set ofcandidate background graphics, and wherein at least one of the set ofcandidate background graphics is determined based on the commoncharacteristic.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 12, further comprising: in response to receiving an interactionperformed by the first user with a graphic of the first plurality ofgraphics, modifying the composite view presented by the client device ofthe first user by overlaying the graphic on one or more designatedportions of the composite view corresponding to the graphic.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, whereinmodifying the composite view presented by the client device of the firstuser further comprises: modifying at least one of the visualrepresentations of the one or more users of the plurality of users basedon the graphic.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 13, wherein the one or more designated portions of thecomposite view are part of the background graphic, and wherein modifyingthe composite view responsive to the interaction further comprises:modifying the background graphic by including the graphic in thebackground graphic.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 11, wherein the background graphic is selected from aset of candidate background graphics based on targeting criteria of thecandidate background graphics and characteristics of one or more usersof the plurality of users.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executedfurther cause the processor to perform steps including: determining animpression opportunity for a designated portion of the one or moredesignated portions of the composite view; receiving a plurality ofgraphic values from a plurality of third party systems; selecting agraphic value of the plurality of graphic values, wherein the selectedgraphic value corresponds to a third party system of the plurality ofthird party systems; and including a candidate graphic provided by thethird party system in the one or more graphics of the first plurality ofgraphics.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 11, wherein at least one of the one or more graphics of the firstplurality of graphics includes sponsored content of a third partysystem.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim18, wherein determining the first plurality of graphics comprisesdetermining that the first user interacted with content on the onlinesystem describing the third party system.